DNA-binding domain in MYB transcription factor family in date palm

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the most important economic plants which belongs to the Arecaceae family in arid and semi-arid areas. The genetic map of the date palm genome is incomplete, which hindered the expansion of molecular studies. Bioinformatics is a way that the researcher compares different plant species to find similarities and differences between them. MYB is a transcription factor family that has well-known functions in many plants, especially Arabidopsis. DNA-binding domains are pieces of peptides (a group of amino acids) that are folded independently and are highly attracted to DNA. The study aims to identify the DNA-binding domains for the MYB family in Date Palm to diagnose drought-related genes in the date palm genome through bioinformatics. The main approach followed in the research is to use a set of approved sites to align members of MYB proteins in Arabidopsis with the date palm genome to determine the most closely related MYB proteins in date palms. The results indicated a group of date palm proteins, which considered candidate proteins or genes to have an effective role in resisting or reducing the negative effects of water stress on date palms. Also, numbers of palm proteins have the same alignment effect and DNA-binding domains, which means that they may be close to each other in function and structure.